My First Periscope

Write this name down:  Periscope.  I think you’re going to be hearing it a lot in the days ahead.  Periscope is yet another addition to the social media landscape but this one lets you do something a bit different:  broadcast yourself live.  This means interviews.  It means reports from the scenes of events.  It means going live from the locations of spot news, just like TV reporters do.  All you need is an account, a smart phone, and a follower.

My friend Guy Atchley has embraced the new technology big time.  Even though the service was only announced a few weeks ago, he’s already signed up thousands of followers.  Mostly they tune in for various behind-the-scenes things he has going on at KGUN9—and judging from his schedule of broadcasts, his camera is almost always on. 

The Vomcom, Redux

Or maybe that should be “Vomcom Reflux.” Judging by the amount of movie product out there, Hollywood’s latest genre is doing fabulously well.

In case you haven’t noticed, Hollywood thinks you are obsessed with excretory functions, and that you find them to be the height of entertainment.  Whether you really do or not, movie producers certainly believe you do, and they fear you will eschew motion pictures that fail to depict them.  An entire sub-industry has sprung up to serve this perceived consumer need.

I first wrote about this new movie genre, the vomcom, a few months ago.  I noted at the time that the wife and I watch upwards of four movies every week, and that about six months earlier, we’d begun to notice that at least one item on the excretory checklist would get marked off every single week in at least one of the four movies we were watching.

Here is the list:

Powertalk 1210 Guest Appearance

Radio host Jim Parisi had me on Tucson's Powertalk 1210 this morning to talk about the rave reviews my  new novel, The Dark, is getting.  I also got the opportunity to discuss my medical challenges and future projects.   Thanks, Jim!

The Dark: Nightmare Maker?

When you’re a new author, especially an independent one, one thing you really want to be careful about is getting your hopes up.  Even great authors usually start slow and have a tough slog of it; some quite famous ones have impressive stacks of rejection slips from earlier in their careers. 

But even so, I have to admit that I’m starting to get excited about some of the feedback I’m receiving for my third novel, The Dark.  Never before have I received progress reports from readers who haven’t finished the book yet, but felt compelled to send me an email or post on my Facebook page to say that they’re really enjoying the novel and can’t put it down.  This is a new experience for me.

John Armand posted:  “So, Forrest, 70% in to your latest novel, The Dark, and ALL I can say is Holy Crap!!! You are scaring the bajeezus out of me!!!!! Tell me you've sold the screenplay rights!?!!??!?! So far it's the scariest novel I've read in decades!!!!!”

Radio Play: The Acme B.S. Alarm

The ACME B.S. ALarm.  Now, you'll never have to wonder again whether a shady statement might be B.S.!  Get yours today!  

Attack of the Cybercats VII

The Cybercat conspiracy continues

The latest round of cat photos I have processed from my archive adds new knowledge to what we’ve already learned.  The Cybercats—part feline, part machine—are seen here testing their mind control on other species.  However, those experiments failed, as you will see.  But the Cybercats’ dominance over my spouse continues to be complete.  Further, I have now grown concerned that my belief in my own ability to resist the mind control may be overstated.  It has occurred to me that I am personally responsible for having brought most of these creatures into the household.  Before, this seemed like my own choice.  But now, I am not so sure.

 The latest photos are below.  Let them serve as a warning to the world.

Welcome to Cancerland

Okay, if Disney were to make a theme park out of my life, I really wouldn’t want to call it Cancerland.  After all, Cancer has not defined my life and I don’t want it to.  But there would have to be at least a cancer ride.  For that I’m envisioning a Space Mountain kind of thing, a rocketing, rocking. rollicking thrillcoaster where you never know how long you’re going to remain on a straight and level course before getting knocked about again, all done in the dark.  That’s the ticket.

The word “cancer” does not do the disease any kind of justice.  At first glance, the label raises alarms and creates a vision of someone facing a dire medical challenge that could be fatal eventually.  There’s a simple progression and an easy-to-follow plot:  Cancer threatens vital organs.  Cancer may take those vital organs.  Fight ensues.   If the cancer wins, game over.